A video circulating on Chinese social media shows how the man is pinned down and taken away. A bystander in the video can be heard saying: “This person is an animal.”

The area where the incident took place has been closed off.

Around 14:00 pm local time, Shanghai police issued a statement via social media, confirming that they had received an emergency call at 11:31 this morning that an adult man was stabbing people at the school at Pubei Road.

The statement says the victims are three minor male students (ages yet unknown) and one female adult (a parent). Two of the victims, both students, have died. The two other victims have been taken to the hospital.

The statement also says that the suspect is a 29-year-old unemployed man by the name of Huang, who had just arrived in Shanghai earlier this month. He had no stable income, and allegedly committed the crime to “retaliate against society.”

The news is a big topic on Weibo at time of writing. “This society has gone crazy,” some commenters write. “They should have executed him on the spot.”

There are also many rumors circulating about the reasons behind the knife attack, with many thinking it is not just a “mentally disturbed” man, but that there are other motives involved which the authorities will not reveal.

The Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School founded in 1993 as a public school, and became a private school in 2005. According to the school’s website, there are 1647 students at the school and 137 teachers.

Manya Koetse is the editor-in-chief of www.whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer and consultant (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends in China, with a focus on social media and digital developments, popular culture, and gender issues. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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Candle light vigil, flower bouquets, toys and other offerings for the lost boys, but how much discussion is there about what’s driving disenfranchised people to lash out against the only people they view as weaker than they are?

Photo of Grey-Haired Post-80s Party Official Goes Viral on Weibo

A Party official from Chuxiong country, Yunnan, has become the talk of the day on Chinese social media, after his photo was posted online by the local organizational department on November 15. His photo and short biography were posted as part of an introduction of local officials and their responsibilities.

The photo of the man, a local Party committee secretary named Li Zhongkai (李忠凯), would normally have never been noteworthy. The fact that the information with it said that Li was born in August of 1980 is what caught the attention of netizens, with many people thinking the grey-haired man looks much older than 38, and some even doubting his age.

According to his bio description, Li is a Chinese Communist Party member who started working at the end of 1999. He is now a Party secretary in Chuxiong’s Wanbi town, various Chinese media sources write, responsible for poverty alleviation, relocation of households, and fulfilling an important role at the time of the landslides in Yunnan. In 2018, he was praised for his service excellence by the local county.

Chinese media outlet The Paperwrites that it has been verified that the photo is indeed the 38-year-old Li, and that a co-worker told media that Li’s workload is heavy.

A WeChat video in which Li was interviewed earlier this year, in September, shows the man still had black hair at the time.

Although many joked about the man, there are now also more serious comments. “Working at the grassroots level is really tough,” many commenters write. “If you’d tell me he was 60, I’d believe it.”

There are also those giving the man some advice on his appearance: “Just lose some weight and exercise, that will make you look younger.”

Li spoke to reporters, saying he was “surprised” about his photo going viral, and also explaining that his work was not easy, as many places in the county are remote and require him to travel long hours.

The Party official has now become popular on Weibo, where some encourage him to open a Weibo account to share more about the work he does in the county.

“Brother, please take care of yourself,” some commenters say: “You look like you’re over 50.”

The ban on 22 dog breeds in the city of Chengdu, including the common Chinese rural dog, has sparked anger among many Chinese netizens on social media.

Starting from November 16, the city of Chengdu will ban a total of 22 dog breeds in several restricted areas in the city, which includes major Chengdu districts such as Wuhou, Chenghua, Jinniu, and Jinjiang.

The banned breeds are mostly larger dogs, or those known for their sometimes aggressive nature. The banned dogs breeds include the German Shepherd, Staffordshite Terrier, Mastiff, Bull Terrier and Pitbull Terrier, Akita, Newfoundland, Great Dance, and others (see full list here). The list also includes the common Chinese rural dog.

The hashtag “Chengdu Cleans Up Dogs” (#成都清理禁养犬#) had over 330 million views on Weibo at time of writing, making it the top trending topic of the day.

Pet owners are devastated about the ban on 22 dog breeds in Chengdu.

Earlier this week, Chengdu Expat already wrote about the new measures, which reportedly are implemented to “create a civilized and hygienic environment,” and to push pet owners to register their dogs.

GoChengdualso warned pet owners that if they live in a restricted area and their dog belongs to the banned breeds, they need to find a new home for it (in an unrestricted area) before November 16.

Chengdu Expat also recommends pet owners to make sure their dogs have the right vaccinations, and to keep their pet passports with them at all times.

On Weibo, many netizens are dismayed with the recent measures. “They shouldn’t ban the dogs, they should educate pet owners,” many commenters say.

There are also commenters, however, who say they support the new crackdown on bigger dog breeds, saying it protects people and makes the city a safer place.

The past year has seen many incidents with dogs making headlines in China. In late October, two incident of (unleashed) dogs attacking people in the streets, leading to serious injuries, went viral on Chinese social media – also leading to more people calling for better dog regulations in China.

In the city of Wenshan, dog owners were recently banned from walking their dogs on the street between 7am and 10pm each day, and Hangzhou has also implemented new measures to “clean up uncivilised dog-keeping behaviour”

One of the most discussed things within this topic is the Chengdu ban on the Chinese common dog, that is listed with the other 21 banned breeds. “We’re not even allowed to raise our own Chinese dogs!”, many say: “What did the common Chinese dog ever do wrong?”